Daily motorbike news, views & reviews
By Jeff Blaylock for our North American readers Buying your first motorcycle is an exciting experience. It is more fulfilling if you are a college student knowing well that wasting your precious time in the morning traffic will now be a thing of the past and you will no longer be late for your lessons. …
The learner-approved motorcycle scheme (LAMS) should not only consider limits on power-to-weight (PTW) ratio and engine capacity, but also motorcycle type. The suggestion is included in a new Monash University’s Accident Research Centre report that assesses factors affecting crash risk related to PTW ratio, engine capacity and motorcycle type. It found that crash risk increased with the …
Yamaha has given the popular YZF-R3 learner motorcycle a MotoGP-inspired styling makeover plus LED headlights and hi-spec upside-down forks. We expect the R3 to arrive in the first quarter of 2019. It will be interesting to see if Yamaha Motor Australia can keep the price at a keen $A6299 (plus on-road costs). It’s in a …
Novice riders interested in the small capacity naked market now have an even wider variety of motorcycles to choose from with the addition of the Honda CB300R. The all-new learner-approved bike will cost $5999 (plus on-road costs) and is slightly more retro looking than its sister CB300FA ($5699). Naked market This section of the market is …
Yamaha Motor Australia has issued a fourth recall on their learner-approved MT-03, this time for a machining defect that makes the gears noisy. The official recall notice issued through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says the machining defect in the primary drive and driven meshing gears could make the bike excessively noisy during acceleration …
The Kawasaki Ninja 400 will cost only slightly more than the popular Ninja 300 it replaces when it arrives in Australia. It is expected to arrive here in February, says Kawasaki Motor Australia marketing co-ordinator Milo Dokmanovic. “Ride away price is not much higher than the Ninja 300,” he says. Depending on your location price is $7699 …
Novice riders may be wondering if Indian Motorcycle is gearing up to produce a learner bike based on the Scout flat-track platorm. Speculation follows the runaway success of the Indian FTR750 on the American flat track circuit and the appearace of a production-ready FTR1200 (pictured above) at last week’s EICMA motorcycle show in Milan. While …
The Kawasaki Ninja 400 could be just what the Japanese manufacturer needs to get its most popular learner-approved motorcycle back on the top-seller’s list. The Ninja 300 ruled in Australia for a few years from its introduction in 2013. However, it has been surpassed in recent years by other small-capacity learner bikes from the other …
The arrival of the BMW G 310 R was delayed more than eight months, but it certainly has been worth the wait. It was scheduled to arrive in Australia in late 2016, but didn’t arrive until recently. BMW Motorrad Australia boss Andreas Lundgren says the reason for the delay was quality control at the Indian factory. The G …
Novice riders could soon have a wider choice of motorcycles such as the Street Rod (above) under the Learner-Approved Scheme (LAMS) if Harley-Davidson has its way. The company is planning to put a proposal to Australian governments through the Federal Chamber for Automotive Industries to axe the 660cc engine capacity limit. Instead, it would retain the 150kW …